#feel free to share further opinions in the tags

[chrisrin]

because i'm SO curious...

[thelastairsimblr]

Family Pack #4

I’m happy to share some sims with you all today! In this post, you’ll find 12 households (40 sims total), each with their own stories and biographies. All of these sims have additional Everyday outfits, skills, bonus traits, Likes and Dislikes, sexual orientations, pronouns, family dynamics, and Lifestyles. You can find them all on the gallery under my Origin ID: TheLastAirSimmer or in the tray files linked under the cut! As always, feel free to tag me if you end up using them.

Abreu

A respected food critic, Maria’s opinion is highly valued by all as the towns’ baked good connoisseur. Her husband Joaquin, a renowned pianist, is no exception; he worships the ground she walks on. Together, they project their creative outlooks onto their sons. Santiago, the eldest and a romantic, has the full support of his parents and wants to become a professional wedding photographer. Even though young Rémy feels he didn’t inherit his parents’ imagination, he still wants to make them proud.

Naval

Aparna owned her own restaurant while raising her two girls alone. Hema was able to help out when she was old enough, allowing Aparna to find success and receive critical acclaim by publishing her own cookbook. Today, Hema is focusing on her engineering studies while trying to find love; she’s very smart and sincere, but a bit naive. Ridhi is chasing a riskier path; she wants to be a famous musician. And while Aparna hopes that this is just a phase, she supports her youngest daughter anyway.

Monaghan

As young parents, Stefan and Marianne sacrificed a lot. Stefan became a cop to support his family, but still gets caught up trying to relive his youth from time to time. Marianne longs for the day that she can quit her job at the local diner and become a singer. Soren feels pressure to please his parents, but really just want to play videogames all day while Tatum and Aria constantly bicker, not at all concerned with their parents’ feelings or the wellbeing of Hunter, who just wants attention.

Larson

Quite the jazz singer in his day, Clive is desperate to find ways to stay relevant in the ever-changing music scene. Fiona, longing for the authentic soul who serenaded her years ago, knows she can inspire him again; she’s stood by him through a lot. But until then, you can find the melancholy art critic drinking to yesteryear at the bar. Jade dropped out of college to pursue a career in social media (much to Fiona’s discontent) while Candice is following the artistic path her parents paved.

Agawa

Ever the class clown, Yuto knew that he had a knack for entertaining people. This was only confirmed after he went viral on Social Bunny for the first time! When he told his parents that he wanted to pursue a life in the public eye, they saw it as further evidence that he couldn’t take anything seriously. He makes a decent living streaming video games and his eccentric personality is pure internet gold. Though to be fair, he should probably be a bit cautious with what he says and does online.

Hollifield

As a teen, Whitney’s future looked bright. But she forfeited a lot of opportunities to pursue a whirlwind romance with a boy who had a dangerous edge. They were happy for a time, but it didn’t last and the only thing she kept from that relationship was her daughter Emma. She now works a lowly job in fast food while taking classes at Britechester, hoping to find a career in social media. Her days are busier as a working single mom, but Emma keeps herself entertained by befriending her neighbors.

Catton

Following the loss of her son to avoidable circumstances, Dottie found herself in the care of his two children. Filled with regret for not doing more for her son, the college professor watches the kids like a hawk! She’s keen on using her connections to better their lives. Temperamental Owen does well to make her proud with his grades, but he has an artsy side that he only shares with those closest to him. His little sister Bonnie would rather spend time making friends than studying though.

Qian

After founding a groundbreaking app, Shirong found a place among the company of the rich and powerful. His charming wife Meifing, quite the schmoozer at elite parties, is constantly looking for funding for her next big venture (while also being the go-to-girl for all the neighborhood gossip). Nuo chose to move home after grad school to save money, but is ready to leave and start her own law firm. Her younger brother Haoyu adds to her restlessness by barraging her with his antics.

Sullivan

Atticus’ dad Clifford, a retired veteran, supported his sons’ musical dreams fully, having raised him alone after his wife died. While roaming the world, Atticus met Elisa; a fashion guru with a fiery disposition. The pair had three children and Clifford moved in to help with the newborn. Like her dad, Lydia also wants to be an artist (whether if it’s for her love for acting or a desire to be in the spotlight remains to be seen) while Malicia, afraid of being unseen, finds relief in her friends.

Kingsley-Ramirez

Jaime and Paxton met/moved in together before they could actually get to know each other, both having been new to the city at the time with zero connections. They found themselves compatible not only as roommates, but eventually boyfriends as well! Jaime always puts others before himself; it shows in the passion he has for social justice causes he advocates for. Meanwhile, Pax works a parttime job at a small coffee shop, but is intent on putting himself through school to become a veterinarian.

Tanaka-Murdock

Nigel and Shannon met at Foxbury and developed feelings for each other during study sessions. Though Nigel was the only one to graduate, he admires Shannon for making the decision that was right for her. He enjoys being the breadwinner while Shannon follows her artistic instincts, though he wishes he had his wife’s free spirit. Shannon is quite hard on herself and works tirelessly until she makes something she’s proud of while their son Kason, while a quick learner, really just wants to play.

Miyake

Even if he’s never been the most social person, Kenzo is a loyal and fierce friend to those lucky enough to make it into his circle. A patron of the sciences, he cares deeply about precision and perfection. However, when it comes to raising his son Akira, he wants the boy to follow his own path, even if it’s not exactly the one he would choose for himself. Akira seems to be doing just that; far more sociable than his father, he never fails to leave a lasting impression on anyone he meets.

[wilteddreamsofbaldursgate]

Emi’s BG3 Fic Writing Guide for First Time Writers in 3 Acts

The Baldur’s Gate 3 fandom is blessed with an abundance of incredible fanwork and it’s a joy to observe how many different ideas and voices further enrich this fandom every single day. But creating content for something you love and sharing it with such a huge fan base can be pretty scary, especially when you’ve never done it before! That shouldn’t stop anyone from trying, though. There’s always plenty of space for your ideas and creations, and your voice deserves to be heard.

Disclaimer This is a Fic Writing Guide, though I’ll have to disappoint you right away: I won’t tell you how to write. I can’t, since—in my opinion—there is no “right way” to write, and even if there were, I wouldn’t know it. Luckily, everybody writes in their own unique way—and isn’t that so amazing? Writing is a deeply personal experience that comes with lots of trial and error; only you can find out what works for you! All I can do is offer you a very basic rundown of writing tips and approaches that worked (or didn’t work!) for me over the years, so take the following content with a grain of salt. I’m not a professional writer. All opinions are my own, as are any fic examples. 

And now:

Happy happy writing—you can do this!

Contents: 

ACT 1: Getting Started

Fanfiction for Writers & Working with Source Material (+ Research)

Writing Set Up: Where to Write Your Draft

The Idea: Coming Up With and Developing Your Idea (with examples)

Finding Inspiration

ACT 2: Writing Your Draft

The First Draft: Just Write.

Art or Garbage?

Writing Dialogue (with examples)

How to Deal with Self-Doubt

Writing in a Second or Third Language

ACT 3: Publishing Your Fic 

Editing and Formatting

Polishing your Post 

How to Tag 

Words for the Road

As you can see, there’s an individual post for each topic and as much as I would love to know whether this guide was in any way helpful to you or not, I would appreciate it even more if you all engaged in (constructive) writing discourse/exchange of ideas/ and generally uplifting behavior with each other. Feel free to use the comment section underneath each post to connect with other BG3 fans and writers(-to-be)!

If you have any questions or if there’s anything you would like me to add to this guide, feel free to let me know!

[oscconfessions]

Hi guys! From this point forth, we will be removing ANY confessions deemed to be “low effort.” (The TL;DR is anything written in bold. I provided further in depth explanation to hopefully answer any potential questions if any section confuses you.)

What we will consider low effort:

>Anything less than a sentence, such as just stating just a character name or just a ship name.

>Confessions that contain a similar premise to another confession submitted in quick succession. Such as “Bot ii is my favorite character” followed shortly by “I love Bot ii”. That being said, confessions expressing the same viewpoint but proposing different ideas will NOT be considered the same confession. If a confession submitted after another echoes a similar opinion, mods may choose to screenshot or copy and paste the second confession and attach it to the original confession. (Note that this may only occur if the secondary confession is submitted off anon or uses an anon tag; any anonymous repetitive asks without any identification will simply be deleted.)

>General spam confessions will also be deleted, such as if the same user/anon submits the same ask over and over (such as “I love bot ii!” followed by “bot ii is so me!” followed by “bot ii yay” etc. or if they just spam the inbox with the same exact confession over and over.) If your post does not break the rules, it will eventually be posted. Be patient, please do not submit the same/similar confession every day thinking that will speed up the process.

>Non-confessions. Shitposts or images that are not confessions may be deleted. This depends more on the moderator queueing, but if the content is considered to be irrelevant it may be removed. Similarly, posts that are one sentence followed by a long and irrelevant copypasta that floods the feed may be deleted. We do still permit posts that may just be asking for recommendations/asking questions/etc. but we may become a bit stricter with what actually queues. If it’s a question that can be answered via a simple google search it may be considered spam.

>Finally, we encourage you to compile any similar thoughts into one confession. Rather than confessing “I love bot ii” and then submitting another confession stating “I love four bfdi”, you can combine these into one confession regarding favorite characters.

The definition of “low effort” varies from mod to mod, there is no concrete definition, however if your confession falls under one of the above categories it will more likely than not be deleted.

These rules will be implemented to help reduce spam and allow us to keep the ask box open more frequently, as the queue hopefully will not get as long! Unfortunately we can only post a maximum of 50 posts per day (with automatic queue), so once the queue exceeds high volumes (it’s at like 300 right now 😭) we get a really bad backup of confessions, and it takes even longer to have confessions post.

If you want to submit a confession, we do encourage you to refrain from submitting redundant asks (i.e., if you agree with a confession, commenting rather than submitting an entire confession in agreement or reiterating the posted ask is preferred.) We also encourage not submitting asks considered ‘popular opinions,’ or that are just repeating confirmed canon. This definition, of course, is different for everyone, and asks considered ‘popular opinions’ won’t always be removed, however reducing confessions that simply repeat a sentiment shared by pretty much everyone or that are just stating canon fact (such as ‘i hate proshippers’ or ‘two tpot is an algebralien.’) will allow more thought-provoking and interesting (or discourse-y) content a chance to be posted.

If you believe your confession falls under any of the above categories, it’s strongly preferred you do not submit it so that mods can focus more on queueing rather than deleting spam.

Thanks for your cooperation :]! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

also sorry for picking on bot for this entire post 💔

-📻

[orbmanson7]

Time to analyze the next part of the "The Sides Need a Nice Day" video, this time it's Virgil and Roman.

(If you want to read the first part about Patton and Logan, read that here.

If you want to read the last part about Janus and Remus, go here.)

Moments here are less about foreshadowing and more about recollection and the current standings amongst the sides, most notably how Roman feels about his place after all the events in SvS:R (and likely the FwSA Asides episode).

Virgil starts off by stating he noticed Roman being whinier and moodier lately, more so than usual. It's possible at this point that he doesn't have full context from the SvS:R episode as he wasn't in attendance, though we know he's at least aware of Janus' involvement/acceptance because he brings it up in the FwSA Asides episode.

He describes Roman as being a bummer, and Virgil (like Patton) is able to pick up on this because it's something he sees in himself enough to recognize it. He empathizes with Roman even if he doesn't fully understand why Roman feels the way he does, because he's been in a spot like that before himself, moody and down in the dumps.

He says that he figured something needed to be done and says he might as well be the one to do it. It doesn't seem like this is out of obligation, which is the way he's attempting to frame it, but rather that he's noticed Roman feels down and has a desire to help him out.

He saw that Patton was relatively successful at cheering Logan up so he decides to give that method a try. However, he uses it in a very different way.

First things first, he immediately pops in, startling Roman, which you'd think would not be the right play here, but Virgil isn't sucking up to Roman's ego to cheer him up today, he's just trying to give him something fun to do and focus on instead.

Virgil doesn't start off by explaining what he's doing, he just gets started. When Roman yells, asking what is wrong with him (because he's a king of deflection), Virgil then explains in simple terms (with some free insults thrown in) what it is that they're doing. He specifically states "we are going to..." throughout this, implying this is meant to be a group activity.

I want to point out this difference from Patton and Logan's version, as Patton had instead chosen solo activities for Logan (as those are what he likes) and was just tagging along the whole time, but they did not participate in those activities together.

Virgil and Roman, however, are doing these activities with each other.

The reason for this may tie back to love languages, interestingly enough. While the intention lends to all of the video falling under the 'acts of kindness' love language, each part has something specific to the side of focus, as well.

For Patton and Logan, Patton being knowledgeable about what Logan enjoyed without asking and then presenting the activities to him instead of participating alongside him would technically count as 'gift-giving'. And for Virgil and Roman, Virgil finding common ground the two of them share and finding similar interests to further their bond, sharing and spending time together, would be 'quality time'.

And later, for Janus and Remus, Janus knowing what Remus enjoys but not participating directly in the activity with him could count as 'gift-giving', but also validating his interests and thoughts could count (in a way) as 'words of affirmation' (which I'll discuss more in the next post).

So, Virgil has already planned for these activities to be done together with Roman. The activities in question, however, do not all require a second party, but are more enjoyable with one.

They start with listening to that new rendition of We Didn't Start the Fire, and Roman is confused as to what he's hearing because it's not what he knows or expects. He's caught off guard because he believed one thing but was instead told another.

Wonder what that's reminiscent of...

Virgil quickly explains what it actually is, as well as his opinion that it's better.

What Virgil is trying to do here is what a lot of people enjoy doing - sharing music that they love! Virgil is aware that Roman enjoys music and he knows Roman likes this particular song, so Virgil, having heard the new rendition and liking it, believed that sharing it with Roman might allow for yet another shared interest of theirs. He's trying to find more things they can both enjoy together, which is very thoughtful and nice of him to do. It shows that Virgil genuinely considers them friends and they've grown much closer over all this time.

When Roman doesn't seem all that pleased about the song, however, Virgil is VERY quick to offer "I've got others" to salvage his attempt. He doesn't sound upset, though, simply prepared as though he anticipated this could happen. Roman gladly takes the offer because things have already started off in an unexpected way for him and he would rather find something familiar next.

He seems excited by the next activity, only to be confused and somewhat alarmed at what it turns out to be instead. Virgil explains and even states that he thought Roman would be interested in the Disney creepypastas, again as something that can act as a shared interest between them. We've seen, long long ago in The Dark Side of Disney episode, that Roman and Virgil do already have a shared interest very similar to this, so it's understandable that Virgil would attempt to build on a foundation that's already been established.

When Roman says he's done and wants to move on, Virgil simply accepts it, just says "cool" and brings up the next options to pick. It's interesting to see how Virgil is so accepting of this despite Roman's dismissals so far. He doesn't appear to be offended that Roman isn't really liking his suggestions, likely because Virgil has either prepared for this possibility or because he knows he's building on their shared interests that already exist.

To give an example, if you and your friend like the same tv show, but you disagree on your favorite character, that doesn't mean you don't both still love the show or can even enjoy watching it together. It just means you enjoy different aspects of it, and that bond isn't ruined in any way, even if it could potentially be a stronger bond if you both liked the same character.

In this case, for Virgil, he already knows he and Roman have these shared interests, he just wants to strengthen that bond, so throwing ideas out there and seeing what works doesn't have to be stressful. It is surprising that he's not more nervous about the potential of a worst-case scenario, considering that's kind of his norm, but this may just be because he's more focused on giving Roman something nice to do and so he's less worried about his own thoughts in the moment.

Moving on, when Virgil gives the next options, Roman looks concerned. They've already had two strikes, two instances where he thought he'd get one thing when it was really another. So now he's worried what the next option will entail. Will it be another mistake?

He's unfortunately right to worry because Virgil's attempt to offer a spider as an animal companion doesn't sit well with Roman. He is extremely uncomfortable and is more desperate to move on to something else rather than stay there any longer.

I want to point this out, that Roman is still participating in all of this. Having had three strikeouts in a row, it would make sense for him to assume none of these ideas were going to be something he liked and he could give up and just go back to what he was doing earlier. But instead, he chooses to try another option with Virgil.

I think this may be significant for his character, likely because Roman wants this to work. Whether that is because it's a distraction from how he feels (even if it's not the most welcome one) or because he wants to enjoy himself and not be alone in all of this, he is still willing to try more options until they find something that works.

It showcases Roman's tenacity and perseverance in an interesting way, that he will keep going until he finds the right solution (not too little, not too big, but just right).

That being said, it doesn't mean he has to do it with a smile on his face, as he's clearly frustrated once he sees what his next option will be.

It seems like a nice activity that he would normally enjoy, but considering how every previous activity had already turned out differently than he'd hoped, he is now expecting the worst.

Virgil follows through, reading him a fairy tale, and of course, tells the original version of The Little Mermaid. Roman is not pleased by this, seeming increasingly bothered and upset, because yet again, this isn't what he expected and ultimately not what he wanted.

He eventually yells out in frustration his problem with the story, saying that that's not how the story goes.

Virgil argues that he's telling the real story (which he is) and attempts to tack on the point about the mermaid being rewarded in the end for her selflessness, as though in an attempt to placate to Roman a little bit.

But Roman cuts him off, declaring that the prince in the story wouldn't be that "stupid or mean," because he's a prince, and that's not how princes are meant to be.

"A prince always does the right thing, the good thing."

And then he suggests that maybe that's not the real ending to the story.

What Roman is doing here, which should be obvious, is projecting his insecurities (mostly about the end of SvS:R) that have yet to be resolved onto this other story. He's giving his thoughts on his own identity issues and personal struggles.

He was faced with an enormous change in his reality after SvS:R, having been led to believe for so long that he was doing what was right and good, that he was the good guy, the hero. But then he was slapped in the face with the realization that there's far more grey area than he could ever possibly imagine, and that the moral compass he'd been using to guide his righteous path hadn't been as righteous and reliable as he'd thought. He's stuck in a position of having done what he believed to be right and now being told that it was wrong, which feels unfair because he thought he was seen as a hero and now he's being told that he's not.

It's an extremely sobering and depressing notion that Roman hasn't even begun to address yet.

Virgil seems to realize that what Roman is getting at isn't his dislike of the story, it's that he wants comfort right now, and stories can provide that when used in certain ways, such as for escapism.

Escapism is something both Virgil and Roman would likely understand rather well.

For Virgil, it's a way to relieve stress and anxiety, to get away from the terrors of the real world for just a moment.

For Roman, it's a way to indulge in fantasy and pretend those troubles are far away. He can imagine a way to fight them off or avoid them completely as if they no longer exist.

Escapism can be dangerous if not reeled in, though. You have to face reality at some point or you'll never grow and improve yourself.

But right now, Virgil's whole reason for doing this was to cheer Roman up, to make him feel better, so if that meant letting Roman have his fantasy instead, just for a while, then he would do that.

So he alters the story he was telling, gives it something more along the lines of its Disney rendition's ending, makes it more saccharine and sweet, and this gets Roman to finally relax, which shows how much this method really works for him (and how much he may rely on it, too).

Now, the story points that Virgil mentions are very intriguing. Firstly, they are different than the Disney version, so he's not just ripping that off, he's making some of this up but still has it based on the original tale.

The parts he changes? He mentions the prince realizing the marriage was a sham, the prince finding the little mermaid before she turned to foam and saving her, that the prince proclaimed his love for her, that the little mermaid realized the prince was good all along, and that they lived happily ever after.

These all sound like wish fulfillments for Roman - things that he specifically would want, as they all center the prince's actions in the story (not the little mermaid's, you know, the titular character).

Now, if I had to guess, I believe this is meant to be taken as an analogy for an ideal version of Roman being Thomas' hero, where Roman is acting as the prince and Thomas is acting as the little mermaid, and I'll explain why.

I believe the marriage being a sham part is less of an analogy and more of a reference to the wedding vs callback scenario, and saying it was a sham is meant to imply that Janus had set things up (as the supposed bad guy) so that Roman (the heroic prince) would look stupid. Realizing it was a sham puts the prince in a position of power over the one setting the trap, making him appear smarter and confident instead for outsmarting his enemy.

The part about the prince finding the mermaid before she turned to foam and saving her might be in reference to Thomas' mental state getting worse, losing himself, so much so that Remus had come along with all those intrusive thoughts, and if Roman had been able to prevent that whole situation, somehow Thomas would be okay and happier and healthier instead.

Proclaiming love should be obvious, Roman (and all the sides, really) genuinely love and care about Thomas, they want him to be happy and safe and healthy and doing what he loves, even if they all think they each know the best way for that to happen. Declaring his love here may mean that Roman can fully express his passion in what he does for Thomas, because he anticipates reciprocation (as you may in any fairytale). If he declares Thomas as his favorite, as his one & only, then perhaps Thomas would do the same of him? This would definitely show Roman's focus on his self-importance and his desire to be paid attention to and adored in turn.

And the mermaid realizing he was good after all is absolutely a direct reference to the end of SvS:R, because the notion that Thomas would not see Roman as his hero absolutely broke him in that moment. Wanting to indulge in the fantasy that, instead, Thomas realizes he is a hero and good and right after all, is his ideal scenario and an escape from what really happened.

And then a classic ending of happy ever after being there is what Roman wants, it's his ultimate ideal. He doesn't care how he gets that ending, so long as he gets it.

Virgil gives him that escape to fantasy, then holds his tongue and runs out of the room before adding "for now." Those words tacked on to the end would bring it all back to reality, because it's true (though quite pessimistic)!

Even if all the ideal parts were to happen, that doesn't mean the story would necessarily be over, or that more events would not then unfold. Roman may be able to get his happy ending, but that doesn't mean the next story won't start right up afterward, throwing everything back into turmoil.

Overall, Virgil was successful in giving Roman something nice that day, specifically something to cling onto while he struggles with the reality of what will inevitably come next. A short reprieve is better than nothing, though.

Now, onto the last part...

[lovejosephquinn]

Authors Note: A new mini series that I've thought about off of the top of my head, could flop, who knows but I'm excited to see how it unfolds. Please feel free to leave a comment or reblog if you're enjoying it, also if you want adding to the tag list for future parts/updates just lmk 🥰

Summary: Joe and reader have never seen eye to eye, growing up together and even further along the line in adulthood. There’s always been something lurking in the back of their minds. It couldn’t be, they share a mutual hatred and can’t stand the sight of one another. Surely, it’s been a long time coming but will the tension finally break into something more beautiful? Time tells all truths.

Under 18's DNI. Warnings: slow burn, no smut just yet we're setting the scene here, reader does not like our boy (sorry) Word Count: 2.7k

Taglist: @eddiemunson-mylove @daleyeahson @ali-r3n @quinnypixie @thefemininemystiquee @winchester-angel @ayooooo0 @wonderheartz @avobabe87 @palomahasenteredthechat @chickennug90 @emma77645 @pepsimunson @figmentofquinn @ches-86 @sugarheart-riot @shawnamae87 @joeqnz @kayleeelena97 @etherealglimmer @birdysaturne @freakymunson @aol19 @coley0823 @lma1986 @eddiesgirls12 @poisonedluv @aysheashea @credulouskhaleesi @xlilithb

Part 1 ✨ Part 2 ✨ Part 3 ✨ Part 4

It’s true, you couldn’t fucking stand each other; you’d never been able to since the moment you laid eyes on him. You knew each other from school, sharing some lessons with him, having to bare the sight of him through your pubescent years and since the traumatic days of hormones and teenage dramas you’d never failed to find Joe on the television, you had eventually come to the conclusion that you would never get rid of Joe.

His stupid face, his smile and his eyes, the way his little freckles hugged his nose and fluttered around his features. The way his posture stood perfectly and the way his curls were scraped back perfectly when he’d used product. The way his oversized fashion sense suited him, never missing a smart shirt even if the odd time it happened to be creased had always somehow made him looked good. He bit his finger nails down to the core, he was perfectly imperfect and had a personality only the rarest of people seem to carry nowadays. Everyone seemed to adore him, everyone but you.

You even couldn’t stand the sound of his name, it infuriated you in ways you couldn’t describe. Joe-sef. Why wasn’t it spelt the way it was pronounced? His friends thought the world of him, girls would always leap themselves his way even in the early days of knowing him, it seemed the whole world was to be always served to him on a plate and you just couldn’t understand why it was every time you saw Joe, you had the feeling of wanting to scream in his pretty little face, scuff up his lovely head of hair, punch his lights out to see his reaction or just plainly to understand what all the fuss was about.

Joe felt the same way about you, he’d always thought you self centred, above everybody else and as arrogant as they come. A bitch. There was no denying he’d quietly thought of you as attractive, never letting out that thought way deep down but he’d never took the time to properly know you so he didn’t really understand who you even were. A little contradictive seeing as the situation was vice versa. He’d always followed you from his sights from a far with his deep chocolate brown doe eyes, the evil stare always cascading in the middle of your space in the form of a dead eye was the only way you'd ever seem to interact.

Even though this secret enemy to enemy based thing had been going on for years, you never changed your opinions on one another. You had lived close by together in the same neighbourhood in an all too close proximity where you could see his garden from your bedroom window when you were younger, where you'd often scowl when you saw him.

The sad truth in fact was when you'd unfortunately found yourself moving into the same complex as one another as adults, bumping into each other in the corridor, your front doors opposite. What are the god damn chances. Why in all of the grand city of London did you have to continue to live in the vicinity of this person. Was it something you'd done in another life to ruin your current one? You'd had to quickly shake off the thought of moving out before you had even progressed into your new home.

Joe shared his current home with his long time best friend Wesley, most people knew him and rated him the class clown, you could probably have thought of better back handed compliments to suggest. You'd hear them often stumbling in from nights out, competing to see who could be louder than who at 3am. On the rarest of occasions you'd hear the giggle of the unfortunate females who they'd more than likely targeted and fancied their chances at a one night stand with. Wesley wasn't exactly in your top ten either, the double act that they perceived themselves to be or in your case: tweedledum and tweedledee as you referred to them with a wicked smirk would at least calm you and give your brain some clarity. You lived alone, answering to nobody and living the independent life, just the way you liked it, peaceful and quaint; well when you weren't being heavily distracted by grown immature men that was.

If all of this was so apparent, why would you go out of your way to let him into your head a good chunk of the time? It was like the detestation had somehow formed this version of Joe in your head that you couldn't stop rationalising. Your own copy of the dictionary would of replaced the very word dislike with his name if you could republish it yourself. It was rare you even felt this way about anyone, but since you could remember you've just seen through him and what you think about his false pretensive ways just wind you up further. You've probably spoke a grand total of ten words to his face, which include excuse me if you wanted to get past, probably even though at the time there was more than enough room; you were doing it just to be spiteful.

You remembered your first day at your new place well. When Joe had caught wind that there was a new person arriving into the complex, a younger female gracing his presence above all else, you'd got a fellow neighbour assisting to bring your more heavier furniture from the moving van after offering to help outside. Upon seeing it was you who came sauntering around the corner, locking eyes with him when he was hovering against his open door to get a glance at the new potential 'victim', you'd been heavily avoided the moment he came to realisation that it was the bitch girl from school, not forgetting years later that you two were sworn enemies for no good reason at all. You noticed that Wesley had popped his head over Joe's shoulder to get a look in, but within seconds Joe pushed back with such force you heard a bump, sudden commotion and laughter, the door shut abruptly with a miniscule inch of a view of Wesley on the floor.

"What was all that about?" The older man looked confused at you as he carried your box inside.

"No idea." You shrugged it off, hoping to not get off on the wrong foot with at least one of the strangers who had stopped what they were doing to come to your aid.

You glanced at the sealed boxes that were perfectly labelled, the place bare and screaming to be made your own. You rubbed your hands over your face as your neighbour kneeled down to place the last box in the centre of the kitchen's space.

"That's the last of it. You need any more help kid?" Kid.

You offered him a grateful smile and shook your head. "No. Thank you for the help, would of been at this for hours if it weren't for you!"

"Name's Dan, I'm only a door away to the right if you change your mind."

"Y/N. It was nice to meet you."

He stood still by the door for a second, hoping not to make it too awkward of a goodbye by waiting for you to suggest for him to stay to save the day once more with the tedious task of unpacking.

"Well, see you around!"

Then you were alone. Closing your eyes, you tilted your head back, a large inhale come exhale of the wonderful silence you were now experiencing for the first time today. It was a lot. You'd never dealt with this whole moving thing alone, it was something you had to come to terms with quick due to the fact your parents wanted you out of the house for good.

You settled down on the sofa which was conveniently provided to you by the landlords of the complex, luckily the majority of the furniture was already supplied so you wouldn't have the crappy job of forking out for new things just yet. Taking off your jacket, you decided that enough was enough for one day and that you'd begin again tomorrow. You placed it over yourself, lifting your legs up and edging down into the material to get a little more comfortable. Your eyes were heavy, nothing short of becoming a little fuzzy from the tiring events of relocation.

Once you'd eventually succumbed to the inevitable lengths of exhaustion, it seemed like you'd blinked and day had turned into night. The silence wasn't so silent anymore when you could hear the sound of music vibrating the walls and floor. You groggily scramble around to find your phone out of your pocket, clicking at the side button a few times to view your lock screen. You wiped over your eyes as you threw your head upwards to look over at the front door situated behind your sofa, your comfortable state slowly leaving you from the booming rhythms played on the outside. A small but intended huff from your nose escaped you as you could only now guess who was making all of the noise.

You stood up from your safe space, forgetting your jacket which was once placed over you now huddled around your feet on the floor. Picking it up and putting it on, you walked over to the kitchen area, turning on the tap to wet your face to make you at least feel somewhat human. Collecting yourself, you wandered over to the front door and swung it open, listening out to which direction the music was disrupting your hefty attempt at relaxation.

Your assumptions were completely correct in where the sounds came from. Now that you were only a few feet away, you could distinctly make out the sound of chatter coming from the inside of Joe and Wesley's flat, they were not alone. It infuriated you from the inside out that a house party was going on on your first night here, even more so now that you knew it was him hosting the god damn thing.

You moved forward and bashed your fist as hard as you could against the wooden frame, making your immediacy known to the idiots on the other side of said front door. You overheard an unknown male voice yelling at the top of his lungs over the loud noise. "Mate, there's someone at the banging at the door."

Not but a few seconds later, the entrance swung open and you looked up to see a half cut Wesley stood before you, gripping onto the door frame as he tried to make himself seem a little more sober than he appeared to be.

"What can I do you for?" An over dramatic hiccup followed. "I mean, do for you?" He asked with a stupid smile attached to his stupid face.

"Is this a regular occurrence?" You folded your arms.

"What?" You weren't particularly sure if he was playing dumb or was just that over consumed by alcohol that his brain cells had shrivelled up and died, the second option seemed more plausible to you.

"House parties at this hour." You weren't beating around the bush, you were in full adamance to get straight to the point and be done with this antagonising conversation, if that's what you could really call it.

"It's not even midnight love, don't get your knickers in a twist." He dropped the idiotic smile quickly and reverted to a scowl.

"Well some of us were asleep."

"Apparently not all of us though." You barely even realised you were rolling your eyes when you heard the all to sadly familiar voice of Joe standing guard behind his best friend who had clearly been awaiting his come-uppance to get a chance to make an unnecessary sarcastic dig towards you.

"Whatever, just please keep it down for my sanity yeah?" You intended on ending it there, but it was obvious to you now that Joe was refusing to let you have the last word.

"Nice to see you to Y/N." Joe smirked, your blood at boiling point almost immediately as you threw daggers his way. His chin was resting down on Wesley's shoulder, you're pretty sure in you own imagination your current fantasy was that if Wesley wasn't stood int he way, you'd of reached up and pulled on those disgustingly pretty curls that sat perfectly a top of his head, dragging him to the floor. Your subconscious mind was rooting for you, but instead you just stood there feeling rather deflated and repulsed.

You advanced to stick your thumb up towards Joe and turned around to go back into your flat before promptly being called back by Wesley, to both yours and Joe's astonishment, the way he'd said your name in such a subtle tone.

"Why don't you come in and have a drink?"

"No." Joe hollered. "No." You mimicked.

"Come on, just being a good neighbour." Wesley beckoned you with his hand. First of all you were barely dressed for such occasion, comfy clothes adorned with little to no make up and what was left was pretty poor from being asleep. "Right Joey?" They were honestly like a married fucking couple.

Joe made his groan evident, forcing the weight of the head on his shoulders to nod along to Wesley's good cop nature, if only he was just making the whole façade up, he wasn't.

"Honestly. Thanks for the offer. But I'm not bothered and neither's he." You pointed over at Joe who was now staring down at the floor like a told off child.

You ignored any more of Wesley's calls and walked away, shutting the door behind you, slumping up against it, annoyed at yourself for even letting yourself interact with someone you highly detested.

You went over to the boxes stacked around your kitchen, opening up one of them to pull out a glass for you to pour yourself some water so you could at least quench your thirst from the dried up mouth you'd conceived whilst wasting your oxygen in some way. Gulping a large amount of h20, a light tap came from your door, a blink and you'd miss it type of sound. You raised an eyebrow and dragged your feet over to open it, nobody was there. You stepped out to look around but the corridor was empty, your foot touched a foreign object that had been placed on the floor. Looking down to observe, a can of beer stood solo at the tip of your toes, not far from being on it's way to being knocked over by your heavy move.

You leaned down to pick up the can, squinting at the little post-it note that was stuck to it. For you, you can't hate him forever. Wes x

Was it that obvious to someone else that you'd always felt a strong level of regard with disgust for Joe? Apparently so. If Wesley was so adamant in being the peacemaker that made you at least acquaintances then he'd have to try a little harder than offering you a beverage by placing it and playing knock a door run. As much as Wesley had done your head in big time at school with his advanced levels of class clown-isms, you'd thought the note to be quite adorable in all fairness to him, so you took off the note, placing it onto the kitchen counter as a reminder that he maybe wasn't so bad when he wanted to be or the fact he'd maybe matured a little bit. Either way the can made it's way into the bin and you headed off to bed, refusing to think anymore of the whole ordeal.

[mint-yooxgi]

Why you should tag authors in your fic rec posts

Hello again. It's me. Honestly, I've felt this way for years, but I've never wanted to say anything until now, but honestly, I think it's time someone does. Every author is different, I recognize that, but with the uprise in reposters and plagiarism in the writing community on Tumblr, I feel like this post is important to make.

Keep in mind this is vastly a post regarding my own opinions of this matter, but if you are an author, or even a reader that agrees with any of the points here, feel free to share this to spread awareness.

So, without further ado, here are a variety of reasons you should tag and properly credit authors on your fic rec posts.

Believe it or not, fic recs are actually a very great source of feedback. When we're tagged when someone recs our fic, we get told, 'hey, this person likes our writing enough to tell other people about it, and share it with others who might like it as well!'. Without that tag, we have NO IDEA that you liked it enough to share it with others. Instead, our fic just gets reduced to the name or title we've labelled it as, and not the writer - the person, the human - who spent hours, days, weeks, months, or sometimes even years writing said piece that is linked to a recommended post. Supporting authors is so important, especially if you want them to continue writing!

That being said, and I don't know how many others will agree with me on this point, but I've always personally felt that people that don't tag authors on fic rec posts are almost trying to take credit for those particular stories. By not putting the author, it gives the allusion that the person making the post could have been the author of said story. Like, you can spare enough time and energy to link the post, but not hit a little @ key which takes about a third of the amount of time to do as it does to link the post? Given the amount of reposters and plagiarizers that are also on the rise lately on Tumblr, it just never sat right with me. The author put in the time and effort to create that story you're recommending. The least you could do is credit them with a proper tag.

Additionally, I just feel like it's common curtesy. Without a proper tag, to me, you're saying that the finished product is more important than the person behind said product who worked hard to create such a work for you to enjoy. If you can spend the time to make your fic rec post 'look nice', you can spend the two extra seconds it takes to tag the author. It shows you respect the person behind the writing as much as the writing itself. At least, to me.

Not tagging the author is essentially the same to me as if you never made the post in the first place. We have no idea about it unless we're lucky enough for it to pop up on our dash and we recognize our own piece of writing. I can't speak for others, but it literally makes my day when I see someone has tagged me in a fic rec post! Like, you cared enough to share my stories! You cared enough to tell people about me. It's one of the biggest compliments you can possibly give someone.

I know there are probably a plethora of other reasons as to why you should credit authors on fic rec lists and the like, but I've said the main points I want to here. If any other authors want to add any more reasons as to why you should tag them on fic rec posts, then by all means! Please, be my guest!

This post isn't meant to be a debate. I just felt it needed to be said, again, due to the rise in reposting and plagiarism that's been going around Tumblr recently, and also since it's just something I've always believed in.

Stories are meant to be shared. It's just nice knowing that our stories are being shared.

[larissa-the-scribe]

Hey guys! I'm trying to set up "author platform" stuff, and had a question for the general public. As readers/consumers of media, if you were to sign up for an author newsletter, what content would you most like to receive?

I am in the process of figuring this out, and while I have a few ideas I do want to know what the people think lol

Further information below the cut:

Content: short stories, art, sneak-peeks of upcoming projects, deleted scenes. Stuff in that vein. More fiction than information, etc., though probably also extra information behind the content (and there would be obvious limitations on stuff I could share--for example, I could share parts of a short story that I would plan to submit for publication, but probably not the full thing since that would make it harder to get it published).

Analysis: examining different forms of media through different lenses, to see what we can learn about how to be better writers/readers, or just for funsies (the most probable "lenses" in my case would be worldbuilding and character writing).

Behind the Scenes: this would be more of a look "behind the curtain"--how or why I made some decisions, looks at notes and concept art, "in progress" looks at writing and art, showing some of my processes, but also generally getting a look at the more personal side of things. Like pictures of my workspace, or looks into what life is like as a writer, that kind of thing. The goal would be to strike a balance between entertaining/interesting, but also hopefully informative (like if you want to write stories, maybe it gives you some ideas about how you could do notes, etc).

Reviews: Pretty straight-forward. My thoughts and opinions on what I have been reading/playing/watching/listening to, mixed with analysis. What did a think about a particular book and what did it do well and what did it do badly, and was it a good read.

Links/resources/recommendations: Articles I've read that have been helpful, books that taught me more about writing craft, different programs I use for different things, but also probably recommendations in the sense of "check out this book," or "check out this author," etc.

I was originally going to include "advice" as an option, but at this point in time I feel very underqualified for that, so if that would be something people are interested in they may have to wait a few years lol.

It is also pretty likely that there will be elements of all of them at different times, but I guess... what would you prefer to be the bulk of a newsletter you received regularly? What would best strike the balance between entertaining and informative? Or would you rather it just be one or the other? Feel free to also include your reasoning in comments or reblogs! I'd be interested to hear what all people have to say!

[tiredmamaissy]

Writing smut about Neteyam is just wrong. Even if he is aged up, doing that so you can write it is still weird. Stick to Jake Sully and adults, but this isn’t right. Don’t ignore this.

Aging Up of Characters

All characters in my literature are adults, in terran and human years. Meaning, when I'm writing them I see them as adults. Therefore, I will portray them as such - mentally, physically, culturally, etc. Although my blog is an nsfw blog, I include their character development outside of smut. Moreover, age isn't really counted on pandora. Na'vi age quicker than humans do and experience a plateau until their senior years (which they can live for well over a hundred years). What really matters to the na'vi is passing their iknimaya - that's what makes them an adult (ready for a mate, etc).

Anyways, this isn't necessarily my main point, but it's something to keep in mind going forward.

Now, I know James Cameron did such an amazing job at portraying these aliens in a light that us humans can really relate to them, didn't he? To the point where perhaps we could start applying our own laws to them. I guess that's why it's so hard for people to really differentiate the two species sometimes :) but, you know, the na'vi are humanoid aliens, after all. aliens that have their own way of life and biology? that live on another planet? that doesn't exist? are we forgetting that these are fictional characters or something?

Most importantly, their actors are of age, yes? Yes. So I don't personally see the issue here. I can distinguish that characters and actors are not synonymous, but my point is, if their actors were underage that would be a different story. Yes, I am also aware of their age when avatar was filmed. But, they grew up - much like their fictional characters will in the next movie. Everyone was once a child - everyone grows up.

I do my upmost best to tag my fictions properly and thoroughly. If there are any fictions that you feel I may not have tagged correctly, feel free to let me know. I have no issue with being corrected, I would honestly love to be corrected. My intention is never to cause harm to anyone. If you don't like this type of content - which is totally fine and your right - I strongly recommend you avoid consuming it. Especially if it's triggering. You'll have my respect if I have yours.

Anyways, I do hear you, though. I understand it, even. You're entitled to your opinion, as am I. I mean no harm to anyone, and thankfully because the characters I'm writing about are fictional - fake, it won't harm them either. No pressure to look at my (extremely nsfw) blog or to read my (heavily warned) content - you definitely have a choice here.

But here's my (also unsolicited) advice:

Remind yourself that these are fictional characters. They don't exist :) Meaning no one here is being hurt or harmed in anyway. Take a deep breath and find comfort in that. Please also remember, that there are much bigger, and better things to worry and advocate about. To be clear - yes, pedophilia is a serious issue. But, throwing around such a word when regarding aged up fake characters from a movie really dilutes it and is disrespectful to the real life victims of pedophilia as well as other victims of sexual abuse, child porn, human trafficking, slavery.. unfortunately the list goes on. These are the people that need to be advocated for. So, I would strongly encourage you to channel your passion to advocate for real life matters - not blue, fictional aliens. Because truthfully, me and my blue alien fictions should not have this magnitude of an effect on you for you to seek me out and take time out of your day to message me about it.

To conclude, I will not be engaging in any further discussions relating to this topic. This is my perspective. If you don’t share a similar one, that’s fine. Do not engage with my explicit content, especially if you are under 18. I feel very strongly about this. My content is intended for adult consumption only as it contains explicit adult themes pertaining but not limited to - pregnancy, birth, sex, dub-con/dark themes, heats/ruts, etc. If you are a minor messaging me about these things you should not be here in the first place. All further comments & messages will be disregarded and blocked.

'nuff love,

issy.

--

[darklydeliciousdesires]

The Dark Passenger - An EZ Reyes/OC Story.

So besties, I have folded spectacularly and decided to post the first chapter, just to see what the reaction is. Cue me sitting here now chewing my nails to bits as I wait to hear if it’s any good! If you enjoy it, please do let me know, and since I haven’t written a full length story for EZ yet, if you want to be helpful and put the word out to any EZ lovers out there who you think might enjoy it too, please feel free! 

Oh, and just to reiterate going on from my announcement post, this fic will centre around dark!EZ. He will be manipulative and toxic. The boy scout has died, but eventually, there will be a redemption arc. Until then, though, don’t expect a smooth ride with him! 

Words - 4,459

Warnings - 18+ content throughout, minors DNI!

Tag list - In the comments. Please DM to be added/removed

Heavy is the head that wears the crown.  

Maybe, if Ezekiel Reyes hadn’t been so consumed by an unquenchable thirst for revenge against the Sons of Anarchy, maybe if he hadn’t instigated calling a kill switch vote upon Marcus Alvarez with quite the gusto he had, he perhaps might have left time for El Padrino to warn him of such, before he was ousted from the head of the table.  

Heavy is the head that wears the crown. At that moment in time, the crown was a weight upon his head unlike anything he’d previously known, but he would not relent. He would not cease, not until the Sons had been pushed down via the clout of the Mayans, made to fall in line, their necks tethered like fierce guard dogs upon heavy chained leashes, each link a Mayan brother yanking back should they stray too far, ever reminded of the power they had over them.  

That power? Heroin.  

They now moved huge quantities for the Lobos New Generation cartel, their product giving the Mayans the footing they needed to crush all others beneath their weight. The streets were flooded, the prison supply now pushed exclusively by the MC, the once aptly named poison charter now standing tall and strong above all. Santo Padre led.  

The poison still swirled, though. For one man, he was only too happy, it would seem, to let it infect his veins. Yet it did not weaken him, or rather, it did no harm to the man he now was.  

The old EZ? It had all but killed him. Poisoned to death by power, greed and bloodlust. It was an opinion shared by everyone who had a seat at the table, as five pairs of dark brown eyes flitted between one another, and the large bag upon the table, placed there by their president. El Rey Oscuro, they called him in the safety of the shadows, out of the reach of his ears. The dark king. There was little light left within EZ, and they all knew it, saw it, felt it. Yes, they were back on top, untouchable, but at what cost?  

There upon the table sat the price they knew each of them would likely be set to pay for, sooner or later. The top rung of the ladder they stood upon was not without its complications, of which EZ was attempting to iron out.  

“I dunno, man,” Angel began, each other man silently thanking him for being the first to speak. “Heroin is one thing, but getting into this shit? Naw, I ain’t seeing the benefit in moving it.”

EZ rolled his tongue around the inside of his mouth, his forearms flexing as he knitted his fingers together before him. “Fentanyl is more powerful than heroin, many, many times over. We aren’t moving it, per se. We’re cutting our product with it.” He paused, lifting his chin a little more, the dim templo light catching the golden tones of his irises, hues the others were surprised did not burn red. It was as if hell itself had begun to swirl within him at times, after all.  

The dark king continued. “Since the unfortunateness of the warehouse fire, our first shipment for the LNG destroyed, forcing us to move an inferior quality replacement as you all know, we need to earn points with our supplier, build further trust, show initiative. We might have the heroin trade sewn up, but it’s with garbage. It’s moving, but not as quickly as the LNG would like. This sets us apart and transforms the product to one of superior quality, if we supply it to them in order to do the cutting. It’ll bring in more cash for us, too.”

Everyone remained quiet, the men shifting uneasily in their seats, their leather kuttes feeling heavy upon them, the hard wood of the chairs stifling, binding, reminding them of their place. Everyone else was held down beneath their force, but them? They were beneath the boot and the unshakable will of one man.  

It didn’t mean, however, that they would remain unquestioning in their fealty.

“EZ, while I agree we need to show such, we gotta be careful with this shit,” Bishop began, lighting a cigarette. “That stuff is deadly. If it ain’t cut correctly, it’ll set us apart in the fact that there’ll be a trail of dead bodies all leading back to us, thousands upon thousands of croaked junkies. That’s the kind of shit that gets us watched by certain governmental department eyes more so than we already are.”  

The words of his VP were, as usual, steeped in fact and good sense. EZ was, if nothing else though, a man who covered all his bases.  

“I have a chemist, one who not only is prepared to work exclusively for us in order to synthesise the fentanyl, but once moved across the border, be there to examine the cutting process and make sure it is precise enough to give the product the correct edge, thus eliminating the overdose danger. If it’s voted in, I will take him to meet with Galindo and Soledad personally, since I already broached the latter with this suggestion. She was keen, of course I told her I would need to take it to a vote, so that is exactly what we are assembled here tonight to accomplish.”

He waited expectantly, his eyes scanning the faces of the five men who sat around the table with him. Bishop spoke first.  

“No. It’s too much of a risk, especially with the eyes on us since Creep’s arrest. The heroin is moving, and that’s all we have to worry about, EZ. You’re talking about quality of product like it’s our name on the line, like we’ll be affected by it. We won’t. We’re the mules. Let the LNG worry about whether anyone thinks it’s garbage or not. We still get our cut regardless.”  

Hank was next to weigh in. “It’s a no from me, too. It’ll bring too much heat. That chemist might know what he’s doing, but can you really vouch for every single person cutting the heroin to get that kind of delicate balance right, thousands of times over? It’s way too much risk.”

“I think it’s a good idea. I vote yes.” Of course, Nestor would. Angel rolled his eyes, muttering something well under his breath. When it came to their president, the newest member of the club was nothing short of sycophantic in his eyes. Some might disagree, and state that his opinion was tainted by the fact that he disliked him, that Nestor was simply playing safe by showing loyalty during his fledgling months as a newly patched brother.  

Gilly and Angel’s votes were both against the idea, EZ’s demeanour changing in a nanosecond as he brought the gavel down, defeated, and extremely displeased by such as they all filed out of templo. The men who had voted against him could only hope that he would see the sense in their reasoning eventually, but until then, they knew El Rey Oscuro would be like a bear with a sore head.  

Picking up a beer and a bourbon from the bar, Bishop walked over to join Angel on one of the couches, sitting down with a sigh, handing him the beer. “He’s getting worse.”  

Angel’s eyes widened, his jaw twitching as he bit down, grinding his teeth slightly. The VP had noticed him partaking of that a lot of late. “You’re right, Bish. I know we all voted for war, but shit, mano. I live in the biggest fucking regret for voting that kill switch in. He ain’t ready to be at the helm.”

“I’m not gonna sit here and pretend like all of his decisions have been bad, I have to give him a little credit,” Bishop began, his thumb picking at a slight flaw in his bourbon glass. “We’re back on top because of him and his choices, but when he brings ideas like fentanyl to the table, I wonder where the fuck his mind is at. He’s reckless, and you’re right. When he behaves like that, he isn’t ready for it. We gotta try and keep a firm pull on his reins. He might be the head, but us, brother, we’re the neck.”

Angel had heard this before. “And the neck turns the head in whichever direction it wants, right?”

“Right.” His eyebrows fluttered, Bishop taking a deep breath before raising his glass to his mouth. “For as long as we possibly can. The weight of the head can always break the neck.”  

That statement didn’t fill Angel with much hope, but he had to hold a belief that somehow, his brother would settle more, and the days of him being labelled El Rey Oscuro would become a thing of the past.  

While they sat drinking and discussing, the man himself left a half-drunk beer at the bar, the headache he had coming on only exacerbated by having to share space with the men who had voted against him. He was pissed off, and sought a distraction from it, somewhere where he could feel like he was the one in charge, somewhere he could relax, preferably with something pretty to look at.  

Heavy is the head that wears the crown.

Yes, he needed a distraction.  

The Luna Lounge was a relatively new enterprise within Santo Padre, the owner of such wanting to offer punters a classier feel to the surroundings in which they viewed the scantily clad women twirling around poles along the long, elevated stage that ran along the back of the bar. It didn’t matter how much he dressed it up, it was still a place to drink beer and see tits and ass. Except the beer was mostly imported and the tits and ass were of superior quality to those within the smaller, grimier establishments dotted around the bleak back streets of the border town, so it had that going for it, at least.  

EZ took a seat, a guy who looked like he was all but ready to finish his shift greeting him with a tired smile, taking his drink order. Once furnished with a beer, he moved around to the stage side, scanning what was on offer as women of various appearance clocked him, all brandishing the same warm smiles full of sensual allure, those smiles not quite reaching their eyes.  

And then he saw her.  

She was breathtaking, and he could tell as he sat down before where she slowly shimmied around a pole that she had absolutely no idea how stunning she was, but god, how she worked what she had. She should have been on the front of a magazine cover, not swinging around a pole in platform shoes and underwear much too cheap to be befitting of her beauty. She was, as the other girls were too, a little lacking in lustre behind the eyes, likely wondering how life had led to them strutting around a stage for their cash, ones and fives thrown up, tens and twenties from the more generous clientele.  

Camille could feel his eyes on her before she even turned around to view him. Tall, dark, handsome. Not many of his type frequented The Luna Lounge. In fact, she wagered he likely didn’t need to pay girls to take their clothes off and dance for him at all, looking the way he did. A mere click of his fingers would be all it took, she thought to herself, sauntering over before any of the other harpies she shared the stage with clocked him.  

“Well,” she began, crouching before him, her full lips curving in a way that made something very pleasant run through him, “aren’t you the most handsome thing to walk in here all night.”

Taking a bill from his pocket, he reached for her thong, tucking it into the elastic. “Hmm.” The noise he made confirmed he agreed with her statement; of course, he did. He’d seen himself in a mirror, he knew what he had.  

Camille looked down at her hip, seeing the bill was a twenty, turning back to him with a smile full of promise. “That’s very generous of you, handsome.” Running her perfectly manicured nail slowly down his cheek, she felt a little ripple of excitement when he turned and kissed her fingertip, his dark gold eyes focusing in on her. She liked it when they made her feel special.  

“How much time does that buy me with you dancing right there in front of me?”  

“Just enough to keep you throwing up those bills if you want more.” With a wink, she slowly rose to standing, her feline glide taking her back to the nearby pole, hoisting herself up and locking her legs around it, leaning back gracefully as she slowly turned, her blonde curls tumbling, the shining blue of her eyes fixed upon his.  

He watched her intently, focusing on the way the black lace of her underwear accentuated her body, her breasts obviously not her own, but well done enough that they didn’t look ridiculous. Not like the bad boob job currently grinding into the next pole down with the kind of uncouth gusto that didn’t exist in the blonde who was captivating his attentions with her elegance. She’d accentuated her tanned skin with little sparkles, sweeps of glitter highlighting the curves of her hips, the rise of each breast and the lithe muscles in her long, slender legs.

She was immaculate, even down to her matching mani and pedi, glittery black fingers and toes, the sooty smudge of her smoky eye makeup the same, care and effort put into her appearance. Yes, she was most definitely too good for twirling around a pole for a living, but EZ wasn’t about to tell her that. It was her job to make him feel good, after all.  

“So,” he asked after a while, Camille returned to right in front of him. “How much to get you by yourself?”  

“A standard lap dance will cost you forty. A full nude version, sixty.”  

He licked his top lip, nodding. “I think the extra twenty is worth it.”  

She smiled, gracefully getting down from the stage. “Give me a couple of minutes, and I’ll meet you just over there by the blue curtains, Mr President.” She winked, running her hand down his arm, her pulse fluttering. God, the muscles. She loved it when they were gorgeous. And he was the president of an MC, too. A man of power, she noted. She liked that even more; it made her feel special that he’d chosen her.  

Returning to the dressing room, she changed into a nude-coloured set of lace undies, a matching dress too, leaving on the peach toned sparkly nipple pasties she wore beneath her bra, fluffing her hair, spritzing on her favourite perfume, adding a few more sparkles before changing her shoes to match. Clear lucite with pale peach ribbons tying each one to her delicate feet and ankles.  

Leaving his almost finished draught beer on the side of the stage, EZ was on his way over to the curtained area when he saw the shimmering light of the blonde appear, Camille reaching for his hand with a soft smile that was one hundred percent allure, leading him through the curtains and into the private room. It was decorated all in dark blue, with thousands of twinkling lights strewn across the ceiling, looking like a starry sky, small booths dotted around, four other girls present, all in various stages of undress as they worked their charm for the respective men who had paid for their time.

EZ took a seat in the circular booth, Camille leaning forward, resting her hands on his thighs, her lips tickling the outer edge of his ear. “Get comfortable and enjoy, handsome.” She rose slowly, her body beginning to sway softly to the beat of the music, the song unfamiliar to him, but the tones just as sensual and richly delicious as the blonde who danced before him. Her striptease was natural, unhurried and sensually suggestive, enticing him every step by the way she made a show of something as simple as removing a dress.  

He tried to fight against the spell he felt himself falling under, the enchantment of her reveal, wanting to remain in control, the one who had others bend to his will, in order to redress the shifted balance that the lack of success at templo had left him feeling. She was here to soothe the stinging within, but he would remain objective, and her his subject.  

Perhaps someone should have explained the finer details of the purpose of a lap dance to him. He was the one paying to relinquish control, and let a beautiful woman distract him with fantasy, if only for a short time. His stance over such was certainly telling over where his mind was on the subject of losing even one ounce of control in any aspect of his life, though.  

Camille felt it, too. While she didn’t know his inner thoughts, she knew he sat there tense, fighting against himself somewhat. She leaned into him, her bra clad breasts brushing his chest through the grey, long sleeved t shirt he wore, soft meeting hard, hoping to coax a little of the tension out of him. Once again, her body dipped against his, a soft, sweet moan spilling from her lips, turning on her heel and seating herself in his lap, gently rotating her rounded butt against his crotch.  

She timed it, waiting for just long enough for his pulse to escalate, standing again, her hands smoothing over her body as she unhooked her bra, the front fastening then secured by her palms as she turned back to look at him over her shoulder, a smouldering pout accentuating her lips. Turning back to him, she moved in a graceful glide to the last bars of the song, the room quiet only for a few moments before a song he recognised instantly began to play.  

Venus in Furs was one of Camille’s favourites to strip to, internally beaming to herself as she moved fluidly, her hands working in tease over her breasts before finally revealing them, the glitter of her pasties catching the dim light, sinking to her knees to crawl toward him, hands grasping his thighs and slowly stroking upwards as she brought her body up between them.  

Mounting his lap once more, she locked her eyes onto his, gently gyrating against him a few times before bending back fully, her hips rolling slowly, her hands coming up to pull at each pastie, casting them away before she sat back up again, each blush nipple stiffening a little, trailing her fingers down his cheeks as finally, she saw the corners of his mouth upturn.  

“Got him.” she thought, watching his shoulders relax, knowing it was only a matter of time. Bare naked tits usually did the trick, though. Continuing to grind herself against him, she felt his breath hit her neck, knowing she was escalating him, giving him a few more seconds before she stood, moving back to her floorshow dance, leaving him feeling as if someone had yanked at the rope of his resolve... and unravelled it completely.  

The way she’d just moved against him had utterly blown his mind, ensnared him further than her enchanting display so far, pulled him away from himself and, what he needed most, made him forget. Here, he didn’t need to be in control. Finally, he got it. But fuck, how he wanted more.  

And that was exactly her design.  

“This no touching rule is getting more difficult to stick to by the moment,” he blurted, not able to prevent the words from leaving his mouth. Her allure, her scent, her moves, her body. Her. She’d got her hooks into him, and he couldn’t help but let the complimentary statements keep on rolling off his tongue. “You’re so fucking beautiful.”  

She smiled, smoothing her hands over her breasts, placing a foot up on the back of the booth to the side of his head, her body undulating, EZ inhaling a sharp breath. Oh, the urge to turn his head and skim a lick over her ankle. Camille saw it, too, the state she was working him up into. “I bet it’s the only thing you can think about, isn’t it? Running those big, powerful hands all over me. You have to be good, but me? Mmm, not so much.”

Lowering her leg again, she seated herself in his lap, wiggling against him, her body moving in a serpentine roll, turning her head, her breath fluttering against his cheek as she felt something very big beginning to harden against her butt. A gorgeous, jacked Latino guy with a big dick; he was definitely one hundred percent her taste, but he was work, and she had to remind herself of that.  

One more seductive dance before him, this time undoing the ribbon ties of her thong, and she was back astride him, grinding herself into him harder this time, her body pressed tightly against his, EZ physically moving his hands beneath his thighs, the temptation to grasp her almost too much to resist.  

“Yeah, do you want me, gorgeous? I can feel that you do. God, it’s so big,” she purred, her hand gently grasping his jaw as she rotated against him, EZ feeling himself spinning. There they were, client and lap dancer, and the heat that escalated between them was very, very real. More potent than either of them could have anticipated. There it was, the first thread of connection linking between them, and it crackled like a live wire.  

“You could pull my cock out and get on it right now, and I wouldn’t stop you, and no one would know. You want it, don’t you? Yeah, you wanna fuck me.”  

And god, how she did. It was unmistakable, the heat of her want as he watched the fire of it dance in her eyes, a blaze of lust that was unmistakable, that wasn’t an amped up bluff performance for the purposes of allure. However, she was in control, and she remained that way, working him up, and up... and up, until he felt his cock twitching against her, hot and hard, dying for release, tingling violently until... no she wasn't going to make him... fuck. Yes, she was. She’d actually made him cum in his pants, while staring him right in the eye entire time.

God... fucking... damn.  

He certainly hadn’t expected that, Camille climbing off him, picking up her underwear and sliding them back on, her dress following. He took her money from his pocket as he stood somewhat uneasily, adjusting his jeans, tucking the bills into the corner of her bra, eyeing her appreciatively. “What time do you finish?”

“1am,” she confirmed, fluffing her hair, resting her hands to her hips.  

“Good, I’ll wait,” he spoke, leaning to her ear. “Because the next time you make me blow my load, I want to actually be inside of you.”  

She smirked, running her fingernails down his chest, her face nearing his, still teasing him with the allure, the promise of more, until it ground to an abrupt halt. “I’m not that easy, big fella.”  

As she sauntered away, for the second time that night, EZ felt frustrated at not being able to attain the goal of having others to bend to his chosen will. While he knew the table vote would remain resolute, the same would not be said for the blonde stripper.  

He’d make her comply, because he knew she wanted him just as much as he did her. It was only a matter of wearing her down, but he would. Being on top of everything in his world was the only acceptable place for Ezekiel Reyes, and before the week was out, he very much intended to be on top of her.  

Exiting the private room, he walked back to the bar while Camille headed for the dressing room, sitting down in front of a pale beauty, with long black hair and a plentiful collection of tattoos.  

“Evening, sexy,” she purred, sinking to her knees and leaning close to him in brazen fashion.  

He replicated the lean, looking her up and down. “How’d you like to earn a hundred dollars?”

The corners of her mouth tilted. “You just came out from a private dance, and you want another? Shit, Camille must be slipping.”

“No,” he confirmed. “That girl I came out with, Camille, you say? I wanna know when she’s working this week. You tell me what hours, and the hundred is yours, babe.” To show he wasn’t bluffing, he pulled the bill from his wallet, sliding it across the shiny surface, his finger remaining. Raven looked down at it and back up at him, figuring it to be the easiest hundred she’d make that night.  

“Wednesday, seven ‘till two, Friday and Saturday, six ‘till one.”  

His finger left the top of the bill, using it to tickle under her chin with a wink. “Thanks, gorgeous.” Armed with the information he needed, he left, all the while planning his return.  

Ezekiel Reyes; he was a man who got what he wanted in the end. And damn, he wanted Camille. Meanwhile, the lady herself sat in her chair in front of her makeup mirror, sinking a shot of tequila from the bottle she always had stashed in her bag for emergencies. The owner didn’t allow the girls to drink while they worked, but in this case, she needed a little jolt of strong alcohol.  

God, the way he’d looked at her. Sure, she was in the business of having men look at her like that, especially when she was grinding herself into their lap, but there was an intensity to the man with a chest about as wide as the hood of her car, and a cock that felt so big, it likely had its own zip code. The intensity of that stare, though, a stare she knew she’d reciprocated with honest intent, it was burned into her mind. There’d been a connection there, and suddenly, Camille cursed herself for not being quite as easy as he presumed her to be.  

Because of her profession, she’d always been a little uptight about the speed with which she had sex with a guy, though. Two hours later, while she was alone in her house watching a pan of pasta bubble, she closed her eyes and saw him there, the dark, sexy man whose name she didn’t even know.  

What she did know, though? He’d be back.  

[bottombatch]

WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @optiwashere !

First off, putting this post together had the unintended side effect of forcing me to edit the sections I wanted to share so that they would be their best. Kind of rude of you! /s

Secondly, most of these WIPs are a good bit away from being ready, or have been sitting in a WIPs pile forever. Unfortunately I write at a snail's pace because my brain craves instant dopamine...

Unfortunately most everyone I would tag here got tagged by opti, so I'm reaching a little outside my usual circle of mutuals for these tags. Feel free to ignore if you just don't feel like it!

@capriclonus, @shallitickleyournerdbutton, and @collegeoflore

Anyway, without further ado... here are 4 snippets of 4 WIPs!

Act 1 Rewrite

Laz has changed SO much from when I first started writing them, I felt a rewrite of Nothing Special was in order... then that snowballed into a multi-chap outline. It'll probably take a while before this ever gets finished enough for me to post, its a project I'm chipping away at slowly.

Anyway; here's a snippet of Laz, Shadowheart, and Lae'zel stumbling upon the chapel with a little bit of inner conflict for flavor.

“You can’t seriously be considering this.” Shadowheart whispered, confusion furrowing her brow. “I agree with the elf.” Lae’zel muttered. “We will be transformed within the hour. We must leave with haste.” For a moment, Laz considered it. But the thought settled a chill over Laz, the ever present flame inside of them flickering down to candlelight. A tenet of their oath stretched tenous and thin at the forefront of their mind; You will conquer those beneath you and not tolerate dissent. How quick they were to forget their own oath... they could practically hear the illharess clicking her tongue in their ear. Laz’s lip curled distastefully, a biting retort to put the two in their place on their lips. But they stilled as they realized that, in the middle of their own argument, the chapel behind them had gone silent. Laz held a single finger up to their lips, eyes narrowing. Lae’zel and Shadowheart both went silent as they caught on. A stray brick was crunched underfoot and Lae’zel’s eyes darted behind Laz’s shoulder. Quickly, Laz shoved Shadowheart to the ground, draping themself over her just as the arrow aimed at her instead pinged off of the shield on Laz’s back. It ricocheted into the dirt several feet away.

Lae'Zel Minthara Coffee Thing??

This has been a WIP for so, so long. I was planning to have it ready for valentines day (LOL), but I didn't like it at that point. It's a thinly veiled excuse to write these two fucking in a coffee au; think porn with a porn-level plot. It was inspired by a post about Lae'zel being the best barista in the store despite not making your drink correctly, though I don't have that post readily on hand.

My opinion on whether this is the best or worst smut I've ever written changes hourly, so eventually I'll just post it so it at least isn't clogging my WIPs anymore... but here's a snippet of the setup.

Lae’zel glanced at the next cup order, scowling as she began to make it. Minthara watched, half interested at best, until Lae’zel pumped something into it. It didn’t really matter to her what it was; it clearly wasn’t what she ordered. Minthara inwardly groaned to herself, dragging a hand down her face. She truly didn’t have enough energy to scold every incompetent employee she came across. Her therapist had been telling her to practice empathy. She could… try that. She tried to imagine her therapist’s infuriatingly calm, rational voice. It could have been a mistake, she would have reasoned. A pretty stupid, infuriating mistake, Minthara would correct. But a mistake all the same, her therapist would say, smiling behind her spectacles. Minthara would just ask her to remake it. It was not a big deal. She wasn’t even here for the coffee, after all. Then Lae’zel pumped something else into the cup, and then another. That was when all rational and empathic thoughts evaporated in a cold fury. Before Lae’zel could even read out the name on the cup, Minthara was storming towards the counter and snatching it out of her hand. “Are you hard of hearing or just daft? This is not my order.” Minthara spoke vehemently. She turned the label to read it aloud, “Venti, drip, dark roast. Is that a difficult order for you? It is baffling how you managed to botch such simple directions—” “Are you lactose intolerant?” Lae’zel said, raising an eyebrow imperiously. Minthara stared back, suddenly caught flat footed. “No?” “Then I see no issue.”

That Band AU I Probably Won't Finish

I've posted wips from this au before; in fact I might have already shared this snippet in the past. But some of the writing in this AU feels too good not to share! Hopefully one day I return to this and flesh it out more because there are some really good moments in this.

"Oh my god, you're adorable." Karlach said with a laugh, setting the glass down. "You sew these patches yourself?" Mattis looked down at his denim jacket. It had various patches and fabrics stitched on messily. "Some are my mom but the newer ones are all me." He admitted. "And it's cool! Not cute." "Right, right. Cool. Super hardcore." Karlach nodded, giving him some finger guns. If it was anyone else, it would've come off sarcastically, but Karlach managed to make it seem genuine. "Anyway," Mattis interrupted, coiffing his hair. "You single?" Karlach's grin only grew as she fought to suppress another laugh, coughing into her fist instead. "Well she's definitely single, my friend." Astarion said, looking at Karlach with mirth. "Frankly, she desperately needs to get laid alr-" Karlach reached over, grabbing Astarion by his collar and yanked him backwards off his stool. He tumbling backwards, landing with a thud, followed by a wheezing gasp. "I appreciate it, kid, but I'm too old for you." Karlach said gently, pointedly ignoring Astarion's previous comment. "Don't worry, I wasn't asking for me." Mattis said, wiggling his eyebrows. He practically skipped away, jumping carefully over the writhing elf on the ground. Karlach, curious, looked where Mattis was headed. Shadowheart, mortified, could only wearily make eye contact, watching Karlach dragging her eyes up and down. Shadowheart burned up under the gaze. Then Karlach gave a soft, easy smile and a wink before turning back to the bar. "Yeah, she's single." Mattis said innocently when he reached Shadowheart. She shoved him into the wall for his efforts.

Warrior's Hearth

This is another one I desperately hope I come back to and polish off because I absolutely adore this ship and there is not enough fics for it. I got deep into my feels when I was thinking about how Minthara and Lae'zel might settle down after the war.

After this and how I wrote old Karlach, I think I have a thing for writing these battle hardened characters soften and become invested in the mundane.

Really wanted to capture how they might adapt to living a calmer life, specifically through raising the gith egg. And, perhaps, that would get Minthara thinking about expanding her legacy... which would then lead to smut, because I am who I am :P.

Regardless, here's the opening few paragraphs because I think it really sets the mood for this idea.

Minthara's work was already gently fading to the background of her mind as she turned the corner to see Lae’zel. Schemes, plans, and manipulations filed themselves away before the gith. Lae’zel’s hair was slightly damp from a bath, skin still flush with the heat of it. She had not lost any of her beauty and strength, despite what would have been devastating injuries for anyone else. If anything, Minthara found herself staring in admiration at the pale scar down and across Lae’zel’s right eye, framing the magical stone embedded there. Minthara had spent many quiet moments tracing over the nicks on cuts in Lae’zel’s ears, admiring how her left one ended abruptly at it’s widest junction. Even the prosthetic joined at her knee had a beauty to it, the craftsmanship unique and unparalleled on this plane or any other. In Minthara’s mind, it was all proof that Lae’zel remained undefeated, whether on the battle or in life. Even busy with raising their child, she trained as if still amidst a war. She grew stronger by the day, recovering at an unreal pace. It was, perhaps, what Minthara found so enrapturing about the gith. Her utter refusal to settle for anything in life. She was an ever flowing fount of power and will. Just being near her filled Minthara with it as well. Lae’zel glanced at the doorway as Minthara entered. She was in the middle of slicing strips off of a hunk of seasoned meat, knife in one hand. At her hip, the plump shape of their recently hatched baby gnawed ferociously at a piece of it. A warmth was in Lae’zel’s eyes as they met Minthara’s, a subtle uptick of her mouth settling on her features. That softness was happening more often. Just a year ago, Minthara would have seen it as a sign of weakness. She knew better now.

[owls-gamblegalaxy]

Kirby: King Dedede’s Great Escape Strategy!

"King Dedede, Waddle Dee, and Kirby depart for the sand planet, Minore, to participate in a festival where a huge feast will be served! However, King Dedede and Waddle Dee are thrown in prison after being falsely accused of stealing the food meant for the event. To rescue them, Kirby and Meta Knight set out to investigate, but …?

Meanwhile, the King and co. carry out their great escape strategy with a boy of Minore, Ali! Find the real criminal and take the feast back!!! King Dedede is the star! The story of a great adventure!!"

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Note: Translator's notes (if applicable) are located in the tags of each chapter's posts. I know that's a weird place to put them, I'm just lazy about re-editing and reformatting everything. Please feel free to check them out if it's of interest to you! Some of them, like chapter 4, are especially interesting in my opinion.

Translator's notes:

大作戦 (translated as "great strategy") in this novel's title is shared with the Japanese name of The Great Cave Offensive (洞窟大作戦, with 大作戦 being localized as "great offensive"). I don't think there's any further connection than that, but it's something to note. I didn't translate it in-line with that localization because 大作戦 in The Great Cave Offensive is being used with a different definition under a different context.

This novel's title has a three d's alliteration. Romanized, it's Dedede Daiō no Dassō Dai Sakusen.

[maeamian]

Hi hi I stumbled across ur tags in that one tumblr post about atoms and I loved ur response!! I also had a question related 2 it. My knowledge of chemistry and atoms is very surface level (dropped out of my environmental sciences major after 2 years lol) so forgive me if this sounds a lil silly. But I thought atoms could touch? Like when they form bonds their electron clouds can overlap right? The cloud is part of the atom so they are touching I would think, even if the nuclei wouldn’t be. Or are those models inaccurate and the electron clouds don’t actually overlap, is that just a simplification for diagram purposes when teaching bonds? Ik you said we don’t know for certain about anything! Atoms are crazy weird but I was curious what the accepted opinion is on this! Ty u seem very very cool

Great questions, my background's mostly coming from the physics side of things and is a little rusty, but I've got enough mutuals who will yell at me in the replies if I get anything seriously wrong here.

That said, generally when physicists tell you 'things don't actually touch' what they mean is a) roughly speaking the 'surface' of all normal things are made of that electron cloud you're talking about, b) when things 'touch' those electrons get (obviously) very close to each other but still have a distance between them, because c) the Pauli Exclusion Principle, one of the basic underlying things that defines basically all of chemistry says that multiple electrons can't be in the same quantum state. This is all, more or less indisputable fact as proven by the fact that chemistry works and can make extremely accurate predictions about how chemicals will form, something that they could not do without this understanding of the electron as an elementary particle

But! You're also right that a covalent bond does represent an overlap of electron! The distinction between these things is twofold, first, when you, for instance, stand on the floor, the molecules in your shoes aren't bonding to the floor, they're reasonably well bonded to each other, but generally you're not creating new chemical bonds every time you stomp your feet, at least not to any significant degree. Instead what happens is that the electron clouds at both edges get very close to each other and go 'someone's already in here' by sending a blast of photons at each other, although here I have to note that the photons are what's called 'virtual photons' in that they're more mathematical conveniences than anything that gets out further than the local interactions, you couldn't see them because they're absorbed almost as soon as they're emitted to the extent that they have any reality, which they definitely kinda do in that they have observable effects on space when it's either very empty or very small.

The other distinction is that a covalent bond, the sort you're thinking is two atoms sharing one electron, in that case I think it's pretty reasonable to say that the two atoms are, for pretty much all purposes, touching at that point, since they can not be separated without the expenditure of energy to break that bond. The case that scientists are generally talking about when they bust out this Fun Fact at parties is when two electrons try to get near each other at the edge of a shoe and the ground rather than when two atoms bond, so you're right about the thing you're thinking of, but the scientists making this observation are also right about what they're discussing, I think OP of that post made it with the understanding that people would recognize it as being this argument rather than one about bonds, but it requires having been exposed to it before to do that, which not everyone has done! Hope this cleared things up and feel free to tag on any follow ups

[stiffyck]

hello! i absolutely love your tcd au and have been lurking for a while now. i love what your doing but it can be hard to find specific info, for example, varying food issues or info on jellie, to make it easier ive made a google doc where im coping and pasting everything with the tcd tag and then tagging it in the google doc, that way its easier to search up specific info!

to find thing you just have to use the find and replace tool to search up the tag

for example, if you wanted to find all mentions of grian then you search (grian)

so far i only have 5 pages done but i wanted to get your approval and opinion on it before i went any further, please let me know if this is overstepping boundaries or if you have any ideas. it it linked below for a viewer

https://docs.google.com /document/d/1_ca6C49QjjAYin0Tt9AcekBm1uHE0ZrBbT86M0Q-7W0/edit?usp=sharing

Oh!!! This is amazing! Yea feel free to continue with this!

But I will say the AUs like mumbo in tcd or scar with a tail isn't really mine! It's based off of asks what people sent! So it's more of a collaborative thing!

And TCD overall isn't really an AU in my opinion, it's just people sending in their hcs about scars series.

[phantom-of-the-ruckus]

Hello puppets theories #2: Why I can't see the handeemen as related

1/?

Special thanks to my discord sister (whose actually my best friend) and co-creator of the theories: @dolly-royal for hearing me rambling about evil puppets and cults, helping so much finding out my points, and bringing up points I did not notice.

This will be a jungle of many reasons why I don't see the handemen as related. There is a change individual posts will be created furthering these points.

And who from now on will be part of my tag list for my theories and observations

(If you want to be part of the list or wish to part take in discussions feel free to DM!!)

special thanks to @dreamland-creations for hearing my rambles and seeing my constant screenshots (ily little meow meow/planotic/affectionate)

Before reading this, please read my previous lore for more dept:

(I am linking the one with the reblog because Andrew replied to that tweet I shared, and explain to me the connection but sorta confirmed that Owen and Mortimer are indeed Gods)

As a quick recap. I came out with the theory that Riley believed Mortimer was her "Father" at first as she tried to explain logically (avoiding the supernatural aspects) until she accepted that Owen created her and just sees Mortimer as a leader. She just refers o him as her "true father" out of respect.

I am adding here some things that I forgot to mention:

I am very well aware of the first Nick Nack tape, however I will say this: The tape is originally around in the early years of the take-over. I have a theory in-process regarding the timeline. So that means during that tape Riley was refusing Owen as her creator.

Going also back to the same point. Daisy canonically has said and it's implied she doesn't really care what the others do as long as they're nice to her. She hasn't shown any evidence based on the puppet interactions that she sees them as a family. So no, I don't think she sees Mortimer or Owen as her fathers.

Nick Nack is the only handeemen that doesn't address Mortimer as father or has shown to see him as such + Not to mention he doesn't treat the others as family or has any indications that he sees them as such as evidently with Riley and Daisy.

So, with those things out of the way. I'll start with a post I wanted to make for a long time and it's about my arguments of why I strongly disagree with the view the puppets are related.

Disclaimer: I am not calling out or criticizing those who believe it. Although this is my personal opinion, yours is just as valid as mine and you have every right to disagree with me. Until we have an actual response, we only have speculation

So, I'll divide this into several points that I am working alongside with Amber (Dolly-Royal) to address our POV.

Part 1: The talks about Gods: Owen is not actually viewed as a father.

This is mostly about the cannon fact that Owen is a puppet God. It is established several points in the game as well as in the tapes itself. This is a straight-up fact that was actually brought in the first hello puppets game when Scout and host find Owen's dead body turned into a puppet-like human and Scout saying the following:

"Shit! That's Owen, that's the guy that made us ...(proceeds to explain Owen creating them and how he regrets it now)... it is weird to met your god" (Scout, Hello Puppets!)

This probably seems like some sort of irrelevant, or simply a weird comment off made from the first game, but actually...this is shown and implied several times in the actual gameplay of the midnight show itself.

The first example that I can actually think it was implicitly implied that Owen was a sort of God to the puppets was during the second phase of Riley's level where Owen calls her "Atheist" after she denied that he created her and believed that the puppets evolved.

I can see people taking this as Owen commenting in the whole evolution reflects Atheist beliefs, but that wouldn't exactly fit within the conversation Owen and Riley were having. Owen could simply remark that he was her father instead of calling her an Atheist if it was actually the case that he was her father as in terms of family and not Father as "Father of creation", which she sorta implies during off the conversation in one of the tapes.

"We are just reflections of our creator. A river and a tributary." (Daisy Danger loyalty tapes #7)

This goes pretty much goes along with the whole "Owen is a puppet God" narrative in the Midnight show as a whole. I did mention before that as someone who grew up in a religious environment, I was not stranger to see people referring to God as "Father" (in terms of Father of creation)

So, I wouldn't be rare for the puppets to refer to Owen as their father of creation, while Riley wouldn't due to not believing in God (hence why she was a puppet Atheist) which does goes along with this phrase she says during our first encounter with her in the MS.

"The others may call you that; but as far as I am concerned, Mortimer is our father, and you are just a Lab Rat" (Riley Ruckus first level, Hello Puppets!: The midnight show)

I believe that Riley was making clear she wouldn't call Owen her father because he was not the one who breathe life into her as it was Mortimer who did so, and therefore should receive the title of "Father" according to her mindset.

I did briefly mention a theory of mine involving Riley perspective of Mortimer at the end of my first long post focused on the lore and talk more about the cult theory:

It would make sense for Riley to call Owen a simple nobody who is no use to her other than some testing subject. Why would she care about a God she doesn't believe in? After all, Owen is not a puppet but just a human, a cattle for them.

Anyways, outside Riley referring to Owen as "The creator" there are other instances in the tapes and the actual gameplay where Owen is implied or is referred to be a God. There are the mentions of religion of the game by Daisy, but I'll divulge into later. Strangely enough, Mortimer is the one who constantly has made a lot of religious comments and these implications, Riley appears to be the second one. Daisy and Nick don't really mention much.

Anyways, I'll start with the minor implications towards Owen being confirmed in the game to be a good.

"For the love of Owen!" (Mortimer, Nick loyalty tapes #1 I believe. Hello puppet Midnight show)

This one is the most straight forward. This is clearly a reference to the phrase "For the love of God!", except that God was replaced by Owen because Owen is the creator, and therefore the actual God figure of the puppets.

Second one is more of an implication

"You'd rat out Owen himself if it got you a pat on the head" (Mortimer, Daisy loyalty tapes #7, Hello Puppets: Midnight Show)

Although some might argue that they would say that Nick would rat out their "Father", I actually argue that Mortimer comment about Nick ratting out Owen is actually about Nick ratting God himself just to get the benefits

Which does go along with Mortimer calling Nick a "Judas" who according to the New Testament in the bible betrayed Jesus (who was also referred to as God himself) for some benefits, or what Mortimer implies "A pat on the head"

This is actually into Mortimer's character, but that would be part of another segment.

Anyways, the most important reference Mortimer directly makes into the game in this cut scene:

Based on the context, and implications of Owen being a creator of the game, it's pretty clear Mortimer is referring to his situation with Owen himself as it's a conversation they have during that cutscene.

I am still trying to figure out what did the creators themselves particularly meant during that cutscene, but my best take is that Mortimer is referring to his plans to force Owen into submitting to the puppets.

The puppets have dark plans to survive and according to Scout take over the world, but well that might be just an exaggeration or an actual plan, but nothing of the sort was explained in the game prequel. We know that Owen tried to stop the puppets multiple times, and they would not be able to thrive because Owen did intend to undo the spell and at the end of the game it is implied that he wants to destroy them.

I would also love to mention something else Mortimer mentions "Owen's presence haunting the Handeemen." I think this has to do with the poetic parallel Andrew Allen mentions in this tweet:

I do believe Andrew confirmed that Owen and Mortimer are considered Gods among the puppets themselves (which could explain why Riley refers as Owen was an impostor), but as the religion suggest, Mortimer would be always lesser than Owen himself, and even though he tries to give what the puppets need (A shaman, a guide) he would always be overshadowed by the greater God that created them all.

This actually reminds of the whole Satan and God complex in many religions. According to some beliefs (not mine) Satan wanted to be like a God, but he is always lesser to Jehovah/God/Jesus. Which ironically both are represented as the Evil (Satan) and Good (God) of the world.

Which would not be shocking if the creators got some inspiration by the major ruling religions of the world like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (ironically, the later two taking inspirations from Judaism, and Islam from Christianity as well. Hence, why they are similar in some aspects)

Part 2: The Handeemen: It appears to be a cult

Heavy trigger warning for cult talks and cult characteristics.

For this section, I'll focus more into the character of Riley herself as she appears to have the most prominent behavior that I think might be hints it's not a "Family" but rather a cult

As my dear friend Stich pointed out in one of our conversations, we believe that the puppets are in, as she puts it, "A patriarchal cult" with Mortimer as their leader and the puppets as the twisted "Family" based on some strange behaviors the puppets exhibit throughout the game.

More notably:

"Mortimer should not be defied"

Throughout later in the tapes from the puppets and the game itself, you can see that Mortimer is being quite a respected individual and who the puppets will side with no matter what (more or less) it is clear that they follow him out of fear and also respect as he was the one who brought them to life and the one that they ought their loyalty towards him.

Still...they refused to go against Mortimer no matter what he does or what even Owen says.

I am well aware of the whole puppet rebellion but I actually have an interested take and I think I mentioned before in my headcannons, but I'll say it again:

Riley was visibly unsure when it came to "overthrow" Mortimer.

If you look closely at her conversation with Daisy in tape #12 (Riley's tapes) Riley has a peculiar way of sinking into the idea of betraying Mortimer:

"....That would be treason..."

If you listen to the tape closely, you can actually hear Riley is rather muttering with a slight hint of horror in her voice. Not to mention she takes a pause before saying more loudly

"If Mortimer knew..."

Wish is obviously referring to Mortimer getting upset about the idea but she's unable to bring herself to finish the sentence as she knows what Mortimer would do, which Daisy does explain that Mortimer would pretty much make Riley's life a living hell as Daisy suggest Riley should become the new leader.

Surprisingly, the first thing Riley says is a direct "No" as she starts to have a hard time explaining why she disagrees if you focus on the way her VA (Jannel Bierch) delivers this line.

"No. This...This is not a rational plan."

What I find interesting, besides Riley having issues with Mortimer's leadership over the puppets, Riley is quick to refuse the idea of throwing "A'coup", and it's actually Daisy that convinces her to carry on with the plan but rather tackles on one of Riley's ego to convince her to carry out the plan as if you noticed, Riley seems to be a character that adores admiration and to prove herself constantly as a character and be always right.

Still, even though she carries out with her plan, she still makes clear she doesn't want to do this and has no choice according to her last tape: Riley's loyalty tape #15

"Mortimer. Our true father. Our leader. It gives me no pleasure to say, that we have assembled here to dispose you today.....I will always revere the name Mortimer Handee; but your leadership has become unsteady, and it's time for someone else to lead the puppets to glory."

What I find curious is how Riley still remains respectful towards Mortimer even after she announces that she's trying to overthrow him. She even makes clear that this is something that could potentially pain her, but stills holds respect to Mortimer Handee as a character.

Why am I bringing this up? I'm bringing this up because I believe might have the mentality of a cultist in regard to her leader that are common within cults. I've been trying to reach articles in regard to the subject, but I would divulge more into the whole what makes them a cult than explaining the whole "family aspect", so decided to pull out some small characteristics of this small article.

More specifically, I want to bring these particular points out.

One of the biggest things that made me curious about why the Handeemen particularly remained loyal to Mortimer besides his treatment of them and how tired they are of him. I think this particular characters goes well with the whole

"Not defying Mortimer" and the portions I show of Riley's dialogue, that are proof that she's still loyal to Mortimer regardless of what he did to her. Before any of you tell me "Phantom, he manipulated Riley to stay with her with Rosco"

I do agree, but if you look closely at these subtitles and the way Riley thanks Mortimer then it does become clear Riley easily fell into her devotion with Mortimer:

This was one of the biggest hints that the Handeemen were a cult was the way Riley behaved around and some of the things she said. One of the other hints that she gives is in her personal dialogue in tapes and outside tapes:

Riley almost never talks about herself in a singular way when it comes to the handeemen. It is almost always the Handemeen as a whole. She does occasionally refer to herself, but when it comes to the Handemen it is always "We" as a whole.

Even she addresses when she complains about Mortimer, she briefly mentions "Yeah, he constantly gets upset over me because he forgets what he ordered me" but her biggest complaint is how "Mortimer is going to bring down the puppets"

Once again going with the whole "Us" mentality, and I think this portion of the article might be the reason why:

When you think more about this, that would make much sense into why Riley would be more concern about the Handeemen than for example let's say Owen or any of the hosts, and event Scout herself.

I have another reason why she acts the way with Owen and the other humans, but let's focus on Scout for a moment.

In the first game Riley mentions that she doesn't consider Scout "A Handeemen" in other words, she is not one of their kind. I've always wondered about why Riley despises Scouts so much and I think it is not exactly about her [Scout] being created to destroy the handeemen (which I highly doubt Riley is aware) but rather this:

Scout can arguably be considered as an outsider to the Handeemen group since she's not a handeemen (which furthers down my point)

I am mentioning this because I want to elaborate into a possible meaning of "Family" in the sense of the cult based on these two observations.

Outside like one or three mentions of the usage "Father" Mortimer is referred by his first same and is talked more about as a leader than a "Father." (there is no evidence proving he ordered not to be called a father)

What Riley considers her "family" just goes into the three Handemeen, however, she treats them more as colleagues/and a leader rather than a family + she referred to them as a family in just two "occasions" but gave no indication she sees them as such.

As I established before, Riley is nonetheless a loyal follower to Mortimer's cult. As from my previous point, I believe that Mortimer has more the association of a God than a father (another hint that is a cult) and I believe that everyone may probably have misinterpreted the whole "puppet Children"in the literal sense rather than creations considering Mortimer thinks of them more as subjects than a family (which I strongly believe he was using to guilt-trip the handeemen into submission)

(This is from Superhorrorbro tapes video. This is tape #15)

I think the whole "family" and "children of Mortimer" has a lot to do to what my good friend Stich herself said as she believes "The Handeemen are in a Patriarchal cult as a twisted "Family". "(implying she agrees they are not related)

Like I mentioned before, the usage of family can have a different connotation when it comes to religious subjects, and it is not strange for cults to use the terminology of "Family" to refer to the group inside the cult (which was confirmed by an ex-cultist.) E.I Charles' Manson's cult was referred to as a "family" even though the members were not related to each other at all.

This most likely tackles into one of the aspects cults tend to do with the followers as a form of abuse and control (taken from this Article this would be used a bit more into part 3)

I did mention before that I believe the puppets have needs of their own. According to Marlow's hierarchy, there is a need for love and belonging which correlates to something the cults prey upon to gather new followers, and I believe this is where the whole "family" thing becomes strong.

Family for the puppets is not about being an actual family. They are in a closeted group, an elite group (according to the previous "cult characteristics article" for a better explanation)

(I'll argue that instead of humanity, is referring to the well-being of their kind)

The usage of family to them is more about being part of something and belong. This can be a parallel to the religious aspects of cults. Although it's not prominent, the references to religion and Gods is no stranger in the game and is another aspect of the cult. This goes along with the "how to stuff article" mentions briefly in one of the things cults seek out for leaders that I mentioned later.

The best example of what I mean with the "family" usage of things would be from a work of Stephen King himself "Children of the Corn." For a quick summary, here's what google summarizes the movie to be:

I hardly doubt that all the children may be related (some might be) but I can see a parallel of them as just as the Handemmen being the loyal subjects who serve a higher figure and leader: Mortimer Handee.

This also goes along with Mortimer being referred almost always as the Handeemen leader, which even Riley does. Outside tape 1, Mortimer is simply referred by his name which I found strange.

He's always refer as Mortimer and "Sir" but not father. Like I said before, there is no indication that he demanded not to be referred as, but this might be because of the whole cult structure and calling Mortimer their leader and refer to his name is a sign from the puppets that they respect him.

Mortimer constantly refers to himself as a person of higher standing, which Andrew did confirm (think) that the puppets are in a sort of hierarchy where Mortimer comes first. He does imply it with this:

The game itself also treats Mortimer as the ultimate power of the puppets, which goes along with what I am saying.

There are also many points I want to bring about the cult theory, but that will divulge less into the subject of "Not being related" into this series of analytical posts, so that would be another thing for another set of posts.

I'll eventually released the other posts and make a master posts combining all of them into one place as Tumblr will not allow me to post pictures.

[twilightarc-gm]

For the recent writing ask game, I'd love to know your thoughts about 10, 12, 13, 23, 30, 49! Or if that's too many feel free to just pick a couple, I'm not sure if there's supposed to be a limit per ask!

Hello my dear mutual and fellow Jiang Cheng enjoyer! 💜💜💜

Okay but seriously how funny would that be to get an ask and they're like "1-50 pls" on a lark? 😂

Thank you so much for playing, btw, very exciting! 🤗

10. How do you decide what to write?

As in, how do I decide what's going to be a WIP and what just stays a daydream: The more niche it is the more likely I will end up writing it because I write stories for me. So, Top Priority of getting me fed is to write the stories I want to see. I check the relevant tags on Ao3, see there's like... nothing for my idea, despair, then open LibreOffice.

As in how do I decide which WIP to work on? Literally I use the carl-bot /choose function on any Discord server that has it. 😂😂 As long as I am writing something, that's good enough.

12. Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you?

🤔 Hmm based on the fanlore.org site I think a trope I once was meh about that I have come to like is Genderbend. But then I tried writing a bit of it and decided I liked some things about it after all. 😅

13. Are there any tropes you used to like but don’t anymore?

😓 Oof yeah, you know, I used to be cool with hatesex/enemyslash tropes but somewhere along the line I got real boring, and decided I have way more fun if the characters actually like each other on an emotional level, even if they're hard pressed to admit it. Now it just squicks me out to see it, or any pairing where I can't conceive of a canon-verse way for it to happen that wouldn't just be hatesex/enemyslash.

23. What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to?

One day I will write a casefic! I don't even have a WIP for it but ONE DAY it will happen and it will be SHORT and FUN and I WILL NOT spend 40k+ on it. 😤😤😤

30. Have you ever written something that was out of your comfort zone? If so, what was it, and how did it affect your approach to writing fic thereafter?

🙃 Haaaaa... well... my comfort zone is long format fic heavy in description, action, plot, world building. Outside of that is... snappy dialogue, humor, short fic. I think the closest I came to outside my comfort zone is my chengxuan fic at 9.2k words but the dialogue isn't that interesting. I also have my recently scrapped WIP "Cringe Fic" (referenced in question 12) that was me working through writing a bunch of tags/tropes I otherwise can't read, to see if I can write it in a way I would like to read.

Writing the chengxuan one-shot didn't really do anything for me besides get me started publishing for the MDZS fandom. It was a fluke, in my opinion.

Cringe Fic had the bonus of expanding the base of ideas I am willing to try and write for, e.g. genderbend.

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!

🙄 Okay so don't laugh (you can laugh), but as it turns out, I am writing a genderbend that I actually intend to publish when it's done. I noticed that there are only 24 works for Female Mò Xuányǔ tag, 19 of which are wang/xian. None of which are chengxian. I always wanted to explore canon Wei Wuxian actually experiencing dysphoria in his new body and making Mo Xuanyu female I feel will heighten that further. I'm thinking I want him to ping-pong between feeling everything is too different but also finding joy in what he has now and settle somewhere in the genderfluid realm of dealing with his 2nd life.

And of course I want it to be chengxian because 🤤 oh wow the drama there...

It's still in the very rough draft stages but here's a part that's interesting to me.

Wèi Wúxiàn traces the trail of brighter crimson to his arms. One sleeve is a clean bright vermilion, the other is soaked nearly black. “Not good,” he croaks with a voice that isn’t his. It’s a higher pitch, even for how ragged and torn it sounds. “Fuck.” Immediately, his good hand comes up to his throat that’s not his throat, where his questing fingertips fail to catch the presence of a knot that should bob as he swallows air. The same hand he trails down slowly, dreadfully, between his collarbones to his sternum, where a narrow, soft, valley goes undisguised by the vermilion robes wrapped around him. He looks down to his chest. Not his chest. His foggy mind catches up and grades the new look. Modest but present. Then his thoughts race ahead and the pins and needles of sensation wash away in the heat of panic. Wèi Wúxiàn spreads his knees and his hand drops down, but he knows.

🧡🙌 This has been fun! See you on my Dash!🙏🧡

...Or even... in my DMs 😉